#noescape by Gretchen McNeil

 Persey has been made to feel worthless by her family for as long as she can remember.  Seeking an escape from that life, she engages in an escape room challenge which leads to an invitation to the world series of escapes rooms.  It quickly becomes clear that the cash prize isn't the only thing at stake as the puzzles increase in difficulty and lethality.

Although I did not realize that this was part of a series, it actually ended up okay as it definitely functions as a standalone novel.  It has all your typical thriller/murder mystery elements with a sprinkling of added horror and the complication of it being a locked room mystery.

I didn't feel like the book was cliché at all.  Many of the plot twists (especially the ending!) were totally unforeseen.  Admittedly, I didn't spend much time trying to predict them I just ploughed through the book.  The characters might be overblown caricatures, but it's needed in this scenario and it feels appropriate due to the stress that they are under.  Persey is undoubtedly the most interesting character and the way the novel cuts back and forth between the now and the past, revealing her life in small tidbits, makes it a little more compelling.

With all that said, I only gave the book 3 stars.  It is entertaining, good turn your brain off and enjoy reading.  However, there are certain element in the writing that I couldn't get past.  It was not written from the first person POV, and I felt that the author wanted to give us more insight into Persey's mind.  The way to do that was not to intersperse (what felt) like every other sentence with brackets.  It was not (definitely not) what I wanted to read because it took me out of the moment.

Readers that enjoy locked room mysteries, and can stomach a little bit of gore, will like this one.  As will readers of All Your Twisted Secrets and His Scream Queen.